ROME (AFP) – At least two migrants have died and around 20 others are missing after their vessel sank in the Mediterranean between Tunisia and Italy, German aid group ResQship told AFP on Sunday.
The group’s ship, the Nadir, rescued another 22 people and took them to the Italian island of Lampedusa, said Stefen Seyfert of ResQship. Their boat sank overnight on Saturday to Sunday.
Among those rescued were men, women and children from Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Mali, Ingo Werth, captain of the Nadir, told AFP.
A pregnant woman was among those saved, while the boat’s crew also recovered the bodies of two men.
In all, around 40 migrants were on the boat when it left Sfax in Tunisia, said Seyfert. “We did everything we could to save more people, but didn’t manage to,” he added. He acknowledged the “good cooperation” with the Italian coastguard.
According to the Italian news agency ANSA, nine women were among the survivors. It put the number of missing at 18.
The migrants are believed to have paid TND3,000 (about USD980) each to get passage on the vessel.
Describing their operation earlier on Sunday on Twitter, ResQship said that when they arrived at the scene of the wreck, the migrants had already been in the water for about two hours.
As well as rescuing 22 people, they had recovered two bodies, they said.
